A Barking Dog

Tony winner Avenue Q will end its current run at Wynn Las Vegas on May 27th. In a previous post, I had opined that Vegas would become a force in musical theater and would likely be an asset to NY based productions. I still feel the same way. While much of the theatrical press was reporting this as a failure of the Vegas musical model, that doesn’t quite fit the facts. I think this represents more a change of business model on the part of Steve Wynn and less on the musical theater model of Vegas.

What I think supports this are a couple of things. First, the show was profitable. According to the producers, the show was doing as well as the B-way show financially as well as other musicals currently running in Vegas. The problem I think, is that Wynn paid too much to get an exclusive, didn’t fully or properly promote it until well into the run and later figured out that the same sort of model he used to get Avenue Q and also used to get Spamalot wasn’t fiscally sound. Initially Spamalot was to be in a purpose built theater in addition to Avenue Q but in the planning phase Wynn realized that the exclusive deals cut made the productions too much a gamble (pardon the pun) and opted not to build another 80 million plus dollar theater to house a production that might not return the enthusiastic expectations of people coming to Vegas specifically for theater. I see this more to do with specific issues with the financial and business model situation at Wynn Las Vegas rather than a failure of musical theater in Vegas. Wynn is adjusting his business to the current climate and if not for the signing of Spamalot, it’s likely that Avenue Q would have continued in the Broadway Theater at Wynn Las Vegas.

From an exclusive podcast at The Strip Podcast, Wynn was kind enough to elaborate in an interview with Steve Friess. It was the basis for a Newsweek article but contained enough Wynn spin to require a Varsity sized dose of Dramamine. Not that I don’t respect the guy, I do. I tried to get a couple of gigs at his place and think he’s one of the few true visionaries left in town. Wynn is doing what he does best, roll with the punches and change it up to meet the current situation. In the podcast, Wynn waxes that he loves the show, but as a business decision it makes more sense to not build the Grail Theater from the ground up and keep his 250k sq ft convention center space in a contiguous config. Convention and exhibit space still rules the roost in this town, in terms of return on investment. There is also the fact that most of the construction projects in town are delayed, or at least hobbled by the lack of available skilled labor. Most of the high profile casino/condo projects are being delayed due to the lack of a workforce to build the projects. Wynn couldn’t build the Grail Theater fast enough and also fit it into a config suitable to his new building and it was easier to buy Aveune Q out of the existing contract than continue on the planned course. I think what this shows, more than anything else, is that the exclusive deals that Wynn signed for those two shows was a poor business decision. People aren’t going to flock to Vegas to see a show that won’t likely tour in their hometown, but will still see a show that they are interested in seeing. All’s not lost, it’s possible that Avenue Q will reopen in another room in town. If the sports book at South Coast was taking bets, I’d throw down.

Based on a few reports from the theater elite in NY, this signifies that the so called “Las Vegas audience” isn’t ready for such seemly high brow affair. Bullshit, I say. We get the same tourists they get in Manhattan. And the bridge and tunnel crowd isn’t any more highbrow than those that come into Vegas from So Cal or the Bay Area. While it is a different experience, I think the self absorbed, arrogant prats that make up most of the Broadway “journalistic” scene are more jealous than anything that any place other than the vaunted Great White Way could have any sort of influence on the theatrical business. To hear some tell the tale, this is the beginning of the end of musical theater in Vegas. Horseshit. Hairspray just opened, to rave reveiws and pleased crowds. (thanks John for the tix) Vegas is a force to be reckoned with.

Betting against Vegas is like shoveling your money into a furnace.

Online preregistration for the Interop Las Vegas show is open. This is the show for networking, data center and general IT types. I’ve been a few times over the years. What impressed me most is a feature/display/real network called Interop Net. Interop Net not only serves as a showcase for the latest in networking technology but as the real world network providing services to the largest networking show on the planet.

Some years back at my first Interop I got the idea that the pro audio world could do something similar to Interop Net. At the time audio networking and control had been out for a while, but was slow in making significant inroads to the market. The idea is that at a major trade show, AES for example (though Infocomm might be more appropriate), we showcase the latest and greatest in audio networking and control technologies. Imagine a network where booths were sharing audio tracks from a high speed network, controlling equipment in demo rooms or on the show floor from remote areas. Where we could see real world deployments, but in an environment controlled enough to get a chance to play a bit with the technology. The offsite technical tours are cool, but it’s not likely that a running show or facility will let one experiment too much with the technical bits. Put aside for a sec the gigantic task of deciding what tracks to use or what tracks to make (for example simulating airport paging or sport event announcing) and the related licensing issues. There are other reasons that this likely won’t come to pass anytime soon.

That’s because there is no real interoperability off the shelf with pro audio networking solutions. One can shuttle digital audio over a network pretty easily given the proper implementation for the application. It’s when we get into the monitoring and control that the idea shits the bed. There are all these fifedoms of proprietary protocols to control devices on a variety of interfaces. Some are still using serial interfaces. Gang, it’s 2006 why the hell are we still using RS422? Five years ago I bought the “slow adopter, backwards compatable” excuse but that dog don’t hunt no more. Also way back then, was the argument of not being able to get enough, or afford the right kind of programmers. That’s what contract shops are for, kids. You don’t have to do that sort of thing inhouse. If your core competency is to develop software based pro audio solutions it makes sense to have that inhouse. Otherwise, if you’re a box house that makes some equalizers or system controllers, it may make more sense to contract that sort of thing out.

I also don’t buy the “nobody wants those solutions” meme. True five years ago, not so much today. All the big installs and shows are using network based technology. It’s even made its way to portable SR and touring. If I have a system controller/matrixer/DSP, equalizers, amp control and console control they should all be able to at least share the same wire. And preferably on a hunk of light transporting several audio tracks as well. The most egregious offenders are the multinational conglomerates of the pro audio biz, or the Walmarts as I like to call them. In marketing and in public they portend to have the exact right product in every part of the line to be a one stop solution. In private they realize that the designers will design solutions where they might not be able to offer an appropriate tool. I’m not Pollyanna (or Nomi Malone) enough to to think these companies will abandon better than a decade of work in some cases, to support some digital tree hugging, utopian society where the specs are free and interoperable. Ain’t. Gonna. Happen.

Instead, acknowledge that your products will be used with others and may need to coexist on a network with other products. Stop using antiquated interfaces. There are very few reasons (if any, really) at this point to use anything but IP over ethernet. Maybe USB at the local device level while not crippling or not offering at minimum of 100BaseT port. That should really be GB ethernet I’ll cut some slack to support a 10 year old standard. I should be able to run my entire network control topology on a single segment of CAT6, from a mid level host computer controlled by an entry level tablet. Better if I could do it down fiber and include a bunch or audio along for the ride. Make sure your clients are as thin as they can be and don’t hog the host machine or the networks resources. Those apps should be optimized for minimal latency and maximum graphics response for real time events like meter movements.

Those are all pretty realistic suggestions. Those that design and build those sorts of products are likely saying “well no shit Sherlock”. Here is the part that some of them kats may not like. Either build or support third parties who wish to make devices that bridge and interoperate disparate pro audio control and audio transport networks. That alone will be more advantageous to pro audio networking in the long run. The reason the Internet got to where it is today is due to one thing. And that thing is…wait for it… interoperability. In the realm of pro audio networking interoperatbility is far and few between.

To channel Fred Rogers…

“Can you say interoperability?”

“I knew you could…”

On Tues, Feb 7th the inauguaral meeting of the Southern Nevada AES Section. I would have liked to see us use the Las Vegas name because the branding is so strong but I don’t want to leave our our friends and colleages in Jean, Primm, Pahrump and Searchlight.

The meeting is at 1pm at the Clark County Library conference room at 1401 E Flamingo (just east of Maryland).